Another big name
How does he do it, programmer Koen Graat…? For the third time he tells us that during Jazz in Duketown 2026 a star of international stature will take the stage. Chris Potter on Sunday, Fred Hersch on Saturday, we already announced them in previous newsletters. And now on Saturday, May 23rd, also Lakecia Benjamin … At North Sea Jazz I had to pay a fortune for her concert, that Saturday she will play in the Market Square in Den Bosch … For free, by the way.
Free, just free …!!! This is only possible thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred volunteers: builders, lugers, stage managers … And we put them in the spotlight in the four newsletters until Jazz in Duketown 2026, one each month.
This month spikier Simon Kumeling.
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NEW NAMES
LAKECIA BENJAMIN
Lakecia Benjamin (New York, 1991) has shot into the jazz universe like a comet in recent years. Inspired by the work of God of the saxophone John Coltrane, she developed her own expressive style, in which she effortlessly and playfully combines traditional hard and bebop with soul, funk and R&B. Consequently, from the very first notes, her concerts are intense and explosive, taking listeners on a roller coaster of musical emotions. Usually dressed in one of her exuberant gold suits, Benjamin treats her audience to a feast to hear and see. Her new CD will be released in June, so we may get to hear unreleased pieces that Saturday….
¯ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q31w4YrXzAM&list=RDq31w4YrXzAM&start_radio=1
TYN WYBENGA’S BRAINTEASER ORCHESTRA
Pure adventure is the way to describe the music of Tyn Wybenga’s Brainteaser Orchestra. Including artistic director and conductor Tyn Wybenga, there are thirteen men and women strong on stage with a colorful variety of instruments. Among those thirteen are such familiar names as guitarist Teis Semey, saxophonist Kika Sprangers and drummer Jamie Peet.
Wybenga, the Duke Electronington of Dutch jazz, samples fragments of his orchestra members, edits them, combines and rearranges them with each other and thus composes a new jazz reality. This underlies the live performances of the Brainteaser Orchestra. Surprising, refreshing, innovative, broadening and enriching, music for lovers with an open mind….
AFKE FLAVIANA
Those who attended last year’s Conservatory Talent Award, where the best students of the jazz programs of various Dutch conservatories compete for this prestigious award, will undoubtedly remember her: not a jazz singer in the traditional sense of the word, but a vocal artist, who knows how to evoke atmosphere and emotion with words and sounds. Supported by a small accompanying band, sometimes alone with her baritone ukulele, Afke Flaviana takes her audience into her world of feelings.
¯ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_AakR1NW1w
THE BRUMS
Three still fairly young Belgians, who have more than earned their spurs in electronic music and avant-garde jazz, have joined forces in the formation The Brums. In 2025 they released their second CD, Soleil Noir, on which they further explored the boundaries of free jazz and electronic music; the uncommon combination of synthesizer, trombone and drums creates music that can shoot in all directions: from raw, unpolished to reflective, almost serene.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcXWmL4ddBU&list=RDfcXWmL4ddBU&start_radio=1
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VOLUNTEERS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Jazz in Duketown without volunteers…? That’s carnival without beer, that’s Den Bosch without Sweet Sweet Gerritje. Without volunteers Jazz in Duketown could not exist in this form, with such good artists and completely free of charge. A good reason to put four volunteers in the spotlight in the next four newsletters.
In this first episode, peakeer Simon Kumeling.
WITH PLEASURE PEAKIER
“There was a call for volunteers at Jazz in Duketown at the Youth Platform in the Muzerije a year or so ago, and I thought it would be a good idea…”Meanwhile, Simon Kumeling (Den Bosch, 1996) has been a familiar face among visitors to this jazz festival for ten years; as a “spikier,” he goes for three days during concerts with the collection box (“… and nowadays also with a QR code…”) around. With his friendly approach, he manages to bring in nice amounts of money every year, which helps to ensure that the largest free jazz festival in the Netherlands can also remain free. ” When I walk through the city those days, I enjoy the happy people around me,” Simon says. “Everyone is in a good mood and understands that a contribution is necessary. But what I like most is that I am accepted by everyone as a volunteer despite my disability, that I am part of the Jazz in Duketown volunteer club. Just call it volunteer family. ”
During the week Simon, who has a form of autism and a mild intellectual disability, works as a host in the ministry at Kloosterhotel de Soete Moeder in de Muntel for four days as part of a day care program. But the three days around Pentecost are invariably blocked off in his calendar: “I think Jazz in Duketown is the most enjoyable festival in Den Bosch, truly a festival of Bossche connectedness.”
Besides being a peak performer, Simon is also actively working on the future of Jazz in Duketown: “I see that the festival is not so easily accessible for people with disabilities, and I have raised this with the organization. With the platform Unlimited 073, a Bosch network of people with disabilities, we are going to see how we can improve that.”
Simon Kumeling, a cheerful volunteer, who enjoys spiking and thinks about the future of Jazz in Duketown… You can’t have too many volunteers like that.
Also something for you maybe? Email vrijwilligers@jazzinduketown.nl
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